Chapters 14, 16, 23, 27

Beta and Muse: Lunahras

The house was taking on a new dimension. Life. Life now took place within the walls rather than the mindless shuffle of the tired boy who would only be there to pass out at regular intervals. At the moment Tsuna was sitting out on the porch letting his feet touch the soft grass with Reborn to his right on Bianchi's shoulder, Hayato was on his left teaching Lambo how to play chess, Takeshi would be over later after baseball practice, all of them enjoying the mild day.

Very slowly he opened the book. This was the first time he had ever opened a book for pleasure rather than an assignment. The feeling was…odd. Almost methodically his hands traced around the edge of the book before he flipped the page. Reborn, who had been quiet the entire time saw the movement and closed his eyes and sighed silently. Nana had the same habit.

He was thrown out of his musings when the sushi maker's son entered the back yard and gave out a friendly "Hey everyone!" he ruffled Lambo's hair affectionately before blinking "Seriously? Chess? In this weather? C'mon kid, I'll teach you to play the greatest sport in the world!"

Hayato shot up "Screw you Baseball idiot! Chess is better than any sport including your stupid baseball! In chess you have to use your brain!"

Tsuna didn't even seem to exist outside of his book so Reborn took the initiative and gave the warning "If you break anything I'm sure Tsuna will have fun taking it out of your hide." and the two teens paled before moving to the far end of the yard for their argument.

As it turned out trying to play catch with Lambo was a very bad idea, when the cow-boy would throw the ball it was instantaneously returned at a speed closer to a bullet than a ball. Later in life Tsuna would say that this day burned into his memories was his first lazy day…the sweet song that let him relax even surrounded by blood.

Unfortunately the next day was a Monday, and his meeting with the brother of Sasagawa. He had just walked past the gate when a hand shot out from beside him and janked him around with enough force to bruise his arm.

Just seeing the boy's face made Tsuna's eyes twitch, something about his assailant reeked of irritation "My name is Sasagawa Ryohei, captain of the boxing team! I saw your match with that kendo guy! Join the boxing team to the Extreme!"

The younger boy felt his eyes twitch "If I say no I take it you won't leave me alone?"

"OF COURSE NOT!"

"Then I'll just say go away and leave me alone."

The extreme boy blinked, he wasn't used to the calm 'bug off' from anybody "I have to thank you for saving my sister!"

Already walking away Tsuna fluttered his hand in the air "Don't care."

At that point Kyoko rounded the corner "Onii-chan! What are you doing?" she looked at her brother who was trying to get Tsuna to go to the gym.

With a glint of annoyance and sadism Tsuna turned to the brother while letting the sister see his plight he opened his eyes as wide as he could and tucked his head into his shoulders before pulling his arms tightly around him, tears started to from and his bottom lip started to tremble "P-please stop yelling at me." Reborn blinked at the unexpected …deviousness of it. The boy had a lethal pout and a hidden sadism streak that matched his own.

Kyoko stomped forward and grabbed her brother with a pout of her own "Why are you bugging Tsunayoshi?" as Ryohei tried to explain his intentions the target slipped away.

As the end of the day came around he was forcibly picked up and kidnapped by the man he ditched earlier. The ending spot was, of course, the gym where he was thrown into some boxing gear and into the ring by a few of the lowerclassmen.

When Lambo called the Bovino famiglia and told them of his plight he was roughly told to get close to the young Vongola, they would send over the transcripts needed for him to enter school and everything else he needed, his mother ended the conversation with her harsh tone "Maybe you can do something right for once…though I doubt it."

The boy felt tears in his eyes, his parents weren't kind to him. To them he was just a burden and was handed off to a maid the day he was born. All his antics had been to try to impress his parents.

But then he found Tsuna, the boy who accepted him for no other reason than he could. Soon Lambo had his own uniform sitting on the hook and was enrolled as a transfer student in the school down the street from Tsuna.

This day he got out to see Reborn in a ridiculous elephant hat "Go to the Namimori Middle gym, Tsuna's got a match." as he made his way over he saw Hayato and Takeshi and told them of the 'match'. Soon everyone was piled into the workout gym.

For a moment Tsuna contemplated beating all of them for this treachery, but decided against it seeing as he could hold it over them for the rest of their lives. Ryohei beamed at him "TSUNAYOSHI! READY TO THE EXTREME!?"

Tsuna lifted his gloves in a block "If I say no will you let me out of this ring and forget I even exist?"

"NO!" and the bell rang and the boxer leapt at the boy and landed blow after blow against his frail body.

After Tsuna lifted himself with shaky arms onto unsteady legs Reborn smirked "Well, let's see how 'extreme' this boy really is" and a bullet embedded itself into Ryohei's head.

And to the shock of everyone watching nothing changed. the Boxing club captain just stood back up with his forehead ablaze "Come on Sawada! Hit me to the EXTREME!"

Without waiting Reborn fired a shot into Tsuna.

With that bullet something did change. The temperature seemed to drop as the younger boy stood and his flame was immensely wrong. The chilled look in his eyes was something that those not staring right at him couldn't feel. "I said I wasn't going to join you."

With a scoff the boxer replied "Real men talk with their fists!" and leapt forward again firing off a barrage of punches that moved faster than the trio of boys could see.

Reborn watched with an almost fatal interest in the last heir, as he dodged it was only by millimeters, enough that the only force transferred was the rush of air the brushed his hair. It was something he had never seen before, nor had he heard of it- Primo was known for an acrobatic style utilizing his flames to fly out of enemy reach.

Ryohei's chant of "Join!" was cut short as Tsuna ducked under and launched his own attack, a lightning blow to the boy's leading bicep to break the guard then a crippling uppercut that launched the older boy out of the ring and out of consciousness. Lowering his arm he stared icily at the other boy "I said no."

Two days later Ryohei walked to school, the arm that had taken a hit had turned a dark purple from shoulder to half past his elbow, as the uniform's short sleeve showed. His arm was near useless for the moment, the doctor had said deep tissue bruising that would need a week to heal up.

Then somebody dropped down before him. Feared by the town Kyoya Hibari glared at the boy's arm in shock. Ryohei was the only pseudo friend the Disciplinary Head had- somebody friendly to everyone and far to oblivious to actually be afraid of the metal tonfa that so often cut through the air.

"Herbivore, who did this to you?" there was no malice or any discernible emotion behind the question. Only curiosity.

The hand twitched as if trying to come up "Oh this? Sawada, that boy is EXTREME!"

Hibari winced at the volume "Be quiet Herbivore." and he disappeared. The boxer, used to the treatment, shrugged and went on his way. Hibari watched from the roof as his smaller shadow looked up at him "I think we found a new toy…" he smirked.

In a certain field hidden from the world an old man shuffled around after a few stray sheep "Well come on girls, let's get you back to the others." a phone, far too advanced for the setting rang once before the old man shuffled around in his jacket, past the blood of so many heroes, past Laevateinn's hilt and his own hammer "Talbot here."

The voice on the other end was recognizable "Talbot, I've come across something I've never seen before."

That alone was something that caught the old man's attention "What's that now Reborn? Thirty years you've been stuck like this and now you find something new?"

Known by means other than the five senses humans possess the maker knew that Reborn was hesitant and had ran his hand over his mouth "You know about the heir?"

The old man snorted "Yes, I know of Sawada."

Reborn continued "I shot him with a dying will bullet…"

"Okay, so what? Not something you haven't done a hundred times before."

"Talbot. It was cold."

"What." the smith had froze and closed his eyes almost as if trying to prove he had heard wrong.

"After I shot him the flames…weren't right, it looked like moving glass and there wasn't the heat that the flame gives off…"

"Reborn." the tone of the man's voice caused the false-baby to stiffen "If he dies the Vongola is going to be worse off then ever. Do not let him die, you understand me!"

"Of course." and then the call was done.

The old man quickly took several calming breaths before he started to ramble to the animals staring at him "If it is…but it can't be…unless she was…but really…"

Reborn was far too confused to really pay much attention to give the baseball boy his usual warning about breaking windows as he walked out of his room and into the backyard. Something wasn't right and Talbot knew what it was…or at least suspected something.

Tsuna was quickly walking to school, Hayato would rush into the classroom at the last minute, something that irritated the shorter boy a great deal. Reborn sat on his shoulder musing about the conversation the other day when he reflexively transformed Leon into a metal bar and deflected the tonfa coming at his face "Hmm. Baby, what are you?"

The hitman looked up to see one of the top rated people of the small town staring at him "I'm a hitman."

Lambo ran up to the duo panting "Tsuna-nii, why are the schools so far away?"

Hibari glared and the small cow hid behind the hitman's seat. "You reek of gun powder little cow…I think I found a playmate…" he smirked before whistling and a 10 year old girl showed up in a white button up with black pants and kenpo shoes, her hair was in a short ponytail that reached the top of her shoulder blades.

The girl started talking in a language that Tsuna didn't understand, she pointed to Reborn and Hibari grunted "Baby…you're not a baby are you?"

Reborn, however, ignored him in favor of looking at I-pin "You're Fon's student aren't you…making you his nephew." the boy growled.

With a quick shove Hibari sent the girl forward before growled out "Her master sent her here to get…social skills…herbivores meandering around each other sickens me so you…bond with her then send her back." he growled before leaping away.

Tsuna, who had remained quiet throughout the encounter just rubbed his temples "Hey asshole! Really?!" he hissed through gritted teeth.

But there was nothing to be done. He was gone.

Reborn patted his head "I need to talk to her so you go on ahead."

Tsuna gave the hitman a blank stare "Well I have to considering if I'm late he might just kill me" and the two boys continued on their way.

As they disappeared around the corner Reborn asked in Mandarin "I-pin, would you care for some coffee?"

She bowed with her hands clasped "It is a bit strong for my tastes," there was a moment's silence as the man jumped on her shoulder "My master told me a lot about you."

Reborn only replied with "Of all the Arcobaleno Fon is the easiest to get along with."

The girl went silent "Master is worried about the Cloud…"

For the first time in many years Reborn thought about the young man who was brought in against his will. Skull was the only one who tried to get out. He wasn't an assassin either, just a boy cursed by luck "I am too…"

A moment of contemplative silence passed before a call lit up the screen on the baby's cell.

"I'm here…though I'm not sure how you managed to get me and half the famiglia to overnight to Japan…" said the man on the other side of the line.

"Don't worry about that, just get to the house as soon as you can and I'll meet you there." Reborn held the phone between his shoulder and ear before pressing his palms together and bowing his head politely "I'm afraid we must part ways here."

She returned the gesture after he jumped off and started after her master's cousin. Continuing the conversation the traveler sighed heavily "Reborn, I really don't see why you called me here…"

The assassin's smirk was heard "That's why I'm the teacher."

"Sure…what time does school let out?"

"They just got there."

Bianchi's kidnapping of her brother was unsurprising, as was Yamamoto's admittance of baseball practice. What was unusual was Lambo was now being followed by the girl from this morning. Tsuna looked at the duo before the younger boy shrugged "I can't even understand her!"

Tsuna's dead-eyed stare did nothing to dispel what he hoped was an illusion. So with a shake of his head and a deep sigh he started the trudge to his home with Lambo quietly talking about his day, his usual boisterous tone killed by the girl who stared at him without the need to blink.

Very quickly things seemed to get worse.

As they stopped they saw that surrounding the house was a multitude of people, all wearing high end black suits with suspicious bulges near their shoulders. Tsuna seemed to ignore the sight and continued his walk to the house only to be caught by a man who looked like something out of a 30's mobster movie "I ain't lettin' anybody who ain't a Sawada through!"

The blank stare he got was starting to creep him out when the younger man said "This is my house, and if you don't believe me I can show you a license or the keys to the house."

The mass bowed quickly and moved out of his way, Lambo was practically glued to his back with I-pin glancing around in a state of confusion, unknown by either of the boys she asked "Is this normal around here?"

Lambo turned to face her while still walking "You know, I have no idea what you just said…"

She retorted with "And I understand every word you say."

Scowling Lambo turned back around.

At the table was Reborn who looked at the man who sat beside him "We've been waiting for you."

Before the man sitting next to him could say his greetings Tsuna put his bag near the door and his effects in the small basket "We would have been here sooner but these people who are 'guarding' wouldn't let me through. I could have been an assassin and said I was a Sawada and they would have let me through."

The man sitting next to Reborn cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak when a lump suddenly got caught in it. Tsuna's eyes pinned him there and burned through him. Judging him lacking he turned back to Reborn "Who's this guy? He reeks of Mafia."

"I'm Dino, 10th head of the Cavallone Family." Dino was wearing a false-fur lined jacket with baggy cargo pants and a black tee on underneath, peeking out from under one of the sleeves was a tattoo on the back of his hand. For a moment the seriousness lasted before Dino busted out in laughter "He's no good!" he crossed his arms "You don't have the aura, you look unlucky, you don't seem ambitious, the way you present yourself is terrible and there's no sense of anticipation. Overall your ability to be a boss is zero!"

Tsuna's apathetic face changed to annoyed "Yes, I know. Now what do you want? A fucking cookie? Get out of my house." he spat.

The two guards laughed along with Dino, Reborn smiled and gestured for Lambo and I-pin to stand beside him. Dino smiled "I can't!"

Tsuna growled "Why is that?"

"Because Reborn here asked me to come!"

"You're here. Now leave."

Dino's smile continued on as he turned to Reborn "He's got a bad attitude, you didn't tell me about that."

Tsuna answered instead of his tutor "Being left as an orphan for two thirds of your life will do that too you. Now, do me a favor and leave."

Dino's jaw dropped and his eyes widened. Reborn stepped in "Tsuna, Dino was the person I trained before you. He also had no talent for becoming a boss."

"Like I've said for the thousandth time, I want nothing to do with the mafia. I don't care if each of those idiots kill each other like dogs."

Dino seemed to get a hold of himself "You were right Reborn, he's bitter about it."

For the first time Lambo spoke up "But he has reason to be s-so stop picking on him!"